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SUBMITTED AUGUST 27, 2009

Before BAUER, POSNER, and WOOD, Circuit Judges.

Deborah Cooney lost custody of her two sons after an Illinois state court found that she suffered from “Munchausen syndrome by proxy,” in which “an individual produces or feigns physical or emotional symptoms in another person under his or her care. Usually the victim is a young child, and the person producing the symptoms may be the child’s parent or caretaker, most often the mother.” American Medical Association, Complete Medical Encyclopedia 870 (Jerrold B. Leikin & Martin S. Lipsky eds. 2003); see also Thomas Lathrop Stedman, Stedman’s Medical Dictionary 1906 (28th ed. 2006). She sued the state court judge (Judge Nordquist), and others as we’ll see, in federal district court, charging constitutional violations. The district court dismissed the suit. Judge Nordquist is of course absolutely immune from suit, since he was acting in his judicial capacity in ruling that Cooney was not entitled to custody.

 
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